CHAPTER~02
First Night
I had forgotten most of the content of my debut novel, which was nothing short of a black mark in my past.
But I still remembered the sub male lead to some extent.
Because that bastard was a crazy maniac I created with full intention!
Back then, I had followed my editor’s advice and added a tyrannical male character because it was trendy.
But as I kept writing him, his personality turned out so rotten that there was no way I could let him be the female lead’s partner.
So he ended up becoming the sub male lead.
That man was **Kallio Rashid Mahgar**.
How rotten did his personality have to be for him to lose qualification as the male lead?
Because he was a tyrant?
No, honestly, it would’ve been better if he were just a short-tempered tyrant.
His biggest problem was that he was a dopamine addict.
For example…
He would storm alone into a battlefield overflowing with enemies, armed with nothing but a spear, skewer the heads of enemy commanders like kebabs, and smile brightly.
He would capture rebels plotting a revolt, toss them into a forest full of venomous snakes, and watch them writhe while laughing.
He would schedule his wife’s execution right before dawn because he enjoyed the sunrise he saw after killing her.
…Those kinds of things.
“Are you just going to stand there like that?”
“Oh, so standing is your preference.”
My mind snapped back to reality in an instant.
Standing… and doing what?
Just hearing the words could be interpreted in many ways, but the atmosphere didn’t allow me to think clean thoughts.
A dark room, so dim that we had to be close enough to feel each other’s breath to even see.
Soft candlelight illuminates the corner of the room.
Red bedding was revealed beneath it.
Flower petals scattered across the bed.
I finally grasped what kind of place this was.
And what kind of situation I was in.
“Or do you prefer when someone covers your mouth?”
“…….”
“My wife?”
Cold sweat crawled down my back.
So I had become the empress of a psychopath, dopamine addict, wife killer?
And this was our first night?
Which meant I was destined to die before dawn.
Why?
Because I myself had written Kallio to enjoy watching the sunrise after killing his wife!
“I asked you a question, Empress.”
I slowly looked Kallio up and down.
Kallio wore thin silk loosely draped over his body, barely covering anything.
His chest was nearly exposed, and the fabric clung to every line of his body.
Water droplets slid from his jaw, as if he had just come from a bath.
Anyone could see what his outfit implied, but I knew he wanted something else from me.
“…Let’s go sit down for now.”
I discreetly glanced at what he hid behind his back and acted calm.
“And give me the book you’re hiding behind you.”
“Hm?”
“You brought it for me to read, didn’t you? I’ll read to Your Majesty.”
Kallio’s brow twitched and the corner of his lips lifted faintly.
As if asking how I knew.
‘Of course I would know.’
Even if I forgot most of my debut work, I was still the author.
I knew how to appease this monster.
Thankfully, Kallio obediently went and sat on the bed just as I suggested.
I swallowed nervously but forced a smile.
If I let my guard down, my head could roll at any moment.
That was the kind of man he was.
I didn’t know why I had transmigrated into my own debut work, but for now, I planned to survive by catering to his whims.
…
…That was what I thought—just a few minutes earlier.
As expected, what Kallio wanted was for me to read the book.
When I serialized the debut novel, I had only written vaguely that Kallio enjoyed humiliating his partner during the first night.
One of those humiliations was making the trembling partner read a book to him.
“Um, Your Majesty?”
“Why?”
“Why do I have to sit on your lap to read this?”
“Because you can feel it better that way.”
…Feel what?
“The content of the book.”
Not only was the reading position questionable, but the book itself was filthy.
It was an erotic book filled with obscene illustrations and explicit descriptions.
“I can’t sleep. Read to me until I fall asleep.”
This wasn’t just humiliation.
This man liked to savor someone’s embarrassment as if it were a delicacy.
‘It’s so obvious what you’re doing.’
The only good thing was that this happened to be my specialty.
“Then I’ll begin reading.”
Because in my previous life, most of the works I wrote were explicit, high-level 19+ short stories.
“When his tongue circled her XX, her back arched like a bow. ‘Aaang,’ she cried with breathless moans.”
…Life truly sucked.
***
Do you know what word I used the most after transmigrating?
Breasts.
Second place: XX.
Fortunately, the book was a short story, so I finished it within ten minutes.
If it had been a 200-chapter-long novel, my shame would’ve killed me before Kallio did.
When I closed the book, Kallio stared at me blankly.
“Have you never seen someone read before?”
His intense stare made me uncomfortable, so I snapped at him.
He parted his lips slightly and raised his upper body.
During the reading, there had been some distance between us, but now he leaned closer—close enough that his breath brushed my ear.
Then Kallio whispered sweetly.
“Aren’t you curious why you were brought here?”
I tried to recall what I wrote about Kallio’s previous wives.
Before the female lead appeared, all of Kallio’s wives were found dead after their first night.
And as Emperor, he was always declared innocent.
Families who lost daughters could only grit their teeth.
So nobles avoided sending their daughters to be his wife.
Instead, they brought in foreign women who didn’t know the imperial family’s circumstances.
‘And that unfortunate foreign woman seems to be me.’
Although, that was all I knew.
Because even as the author, I hadn’t made detailed backstories for extras…
‘Ugh!’
Still, any family that willingly sent their daughter to this madman wasn’t the type I could rely on.
“Actually, it wasn’t supposed to be you. Your sister was meant to marry me.”
My vague suspicion was confirmed by Kallio.
“But your father cherished your sister greatly, so you were sent instead. Touching paternal love, isn’t it?”
Wow…
‘If the original owner of this body heard that, she would’ve slapped you while crying.’
Whether lucky or unlucky, I had possessed this body instead.
Kallio looked at me with a strange expression.
“So you’re my third wife.”
He delivered the depressing fact like a final blow.
“I… I see…”
I set the book down and hid my trembling hands under the blankets.
In short, I was an extra meant to die before the arrival of the original female lead, Kallio’s *fourth* wife.
A foreigner, abandoned by her own family, with nowhere to seek help.
‘So I’m seriously screwed…!’
Even a stray duck egg had it better than me!
The urge to escape the room surged inside me.
I glanced toward the window while keeping a calm face.
It was still the first *night*, so I still had some time.
‘The female lead survived by telling Kallio an interesting story, so maybe—’
But before I could speak, I felt something cold touch my collarbone.
His large hand slithered over my body like a snake.
Goosebumps rose everywhere he touched.
And Kallio whispered in a low voice.
“Since you finished reading, it’s time to review…”
He murmured languidly and slid a hand around my waist.
With the other hand, he picked up a candy from a bronze cup and put it in his mouth.
“Let’s start by tasting your lips.”
Kallio grabbed my chin and pulled me close.
His face neared mine, close enough that I couldn’t tell whose breath filled the space between us.
The candy in his mouth carried a ginger scent.
And at that moment, I remembered a crucial detail from the original story.
It wasn’t an ordinary ginger candy.
It was coated with something special.
*Scorpion venom.*
Meaning this madman planned to poison me with paralysis and kill me.
My lips dried instantly and chills ran down my back.
I quickly raised my hand and struck Kallio’s jaw.
Crunch!
Surprised, he bit the candy in his mouth.
While he faltered for a moment, I leapt from the bed and grabbed a small decorative dagger nearby.
I had never learned swordsmanship, but people gained strange strength in life-or-death situations.
And so, I swung the dagger with all my might.
My hands trembled, but the blade struck its target—Kallio’s shoulder.
For a moment, relief washed over me.
But only for a moment.
“Usually, people crawl into my room trembling.”
Kallio did not look shocked by the attack.
His eyes gleamed instead.
He grabbed the dagger lodged in his shoulder.
“So you stab me.”
Then he pulled it out effortlessly.
Squelch—
Blood spurted briefly from the wound.
The crimson droplets splashed across his wicked smile.
Kallio grinned brightly.
“Interesting.”
